Table of Contents
- 1 How do heart valves become damaged?
- 2 What happens if the valves are damaged?
- 3 Why do heart valves stop working?
- 4 Can heart valves repair themselves?
- 5 How do they repair a damaged heart valve?
- 6 What happens if heart valves are not replaced?
- 7 What happens if one of your heart valves is leaking?
- 8 What are the causes of heart valve dysfunction?
How do heart valves become damaged?
Heart valve disease occurs when your heart’s valves do not work correctly. Common causes of valve disease include rheumatic fever, birth defects, degeneration over time and infection. This can be caused by valvular stenosis or valvular insufficiency.
What happens if the valves are damaged?
In heart valve disease, one or more of the valves in your heart doesn’t work properly. Your heart has four valves that keep blood flowing in the correct direction. In some cases, one or more of the valves don’t open or close properly. This can cause the blood flow through your heart to your body to be disrupted.
How do you know if you have damaged your heart valve?
Some physical signs of heart valve disease can include:
- Chest pain or palpitations (rapid rhythms or skips)
- Shortness of breath, difficulty catching your breath, fatigue, weakness, or inability to maintain regular activity level.
- Lightheadedness or fainting.
- Swollen ankles, feet or abdomen.
Why do heart valves stop working?
Diseased heart valves aren’t always able to perform the job as well as they should. Stenosis, or a narrowing of the blood vessels, causes a less-than-normal amount of blood to flow to the heart. This causes the muscle to work harder. Leaky valves can also pose a problem.
Can heart valves repair themselves?
Unfortunately, heart valves do not tend to heal themselves. It is true that some infants born with heart murmurs will eventually grow out of the murmur as the heart matures.
How long can you live with a damaged heart valve?
In developing countries, it progresses much more rapidly and may lead to symptoms in children less than 5 years of age. Around 80\% of patients with mild symptoms live for at least 10 years after diagnosis.
How do they repair a damaged heart valve?
The diseased valve may be repaired using a ring to support the damaged valve, or the entire valve may be removed and replaced by an artificial valve. Artificial valves may be made of carbon coated plastic or tissue (made from animal valves or human valves taken from donors).
What happens if heart valves are not replaced?
Aortic Valve Problems Or, it could be from wear and tear over the years, or because of another health condition, like a heart infection. Those problems can cause shortness of breath, chest pain, dizziness, fainting, and other symptoms. If you don’t get the valve replaced, it can be life-threatening.
How does a heart valve repair or replacement work?
To do the valve repair or replacement, your doctor must stop your heart. He or she will put tubes into the heart so that the blood can be pumped through your body by a heart-lung bypass machine while your heart is stopped.
What happens if one of your heart valves is leaking?
If one or more valves become leaky, blood leaks backwards, which means less blood is pumped in the right direction. Based on your symptoms and the overall condition of your heart, your healthcare provider may decide that the diseased valve (s) needs to be surgically repaired or replaced.
What are the causes of heart valve dysfunction?
Conditions that may cause heart valve dysfunction are valve stenosis (stiffness) and valve regurgitation (leaky valve). When one (or more) valve (s) becomes stenotic (stiff), the heart has to work harder to pump the blood through the valve.
What does it mean when your heart valve is stiff?
Valves can become narrow and stiff from infection (such as rheumatic fever or staph) and aging. If one or more valves become leaky, blood leaks backwards, which means less blood is pumped in the right direction.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jLfPlQBYuw